China to roll out more support measures as economy faces pressure - stats head

Reuters
A man rides a motor tricycle past the buildings of Beijing's central business area

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will maintain a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy in 2020 and roll out more support measures this year as the economy faces downward pressure, the chief of the country's statistics bureau said on Friday.

China does not deliberately pursue high economic growth and it is normal for gross domestic product (GDP) growth to fluctuate, Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, told a press conference in Beijing.

Ning's comments followed official data that showed on Friday China's economy grew 6.1% in 2019, the slowest in 29 years, though still within the government's target of 6-6.5%.

(Reporting by Stella Qiu and Se Young Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)